Press eoe veneering



L. A. BROWN AND J. W. BIotOWN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

PRESS FOR VENEERING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,400,7dated J anuaryl 1l), 1854.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, LUCIAN A. BRowN and JEREMIAH W.v BROWN, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State-of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Veneering-Press or Machine for Pressing upon a Surface Covered with Glue or Cement a Thin Sheet of Wood or other Suitable Material and we do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure l, denotes a top view. Fig. 2, a front side elevation, and Fig. 3, a transverse section of our veneering press.

The manner of constructing and using our said press may be thus described.

In the drawings, A, A, A, denote strong transverse bed timbers, on which the lever platform or bottom, a, of the expansion box, B, of the press rests. This expansion box is composed of`a top frame, b, and a bottom,fo, united at and around their entire'edges by a flexible air tight material or membrane, c, (such as leather or vulcanized india rubber) such being made to compose the sides of the box.` This flexible connection should be secured to the top and bottom of the box with water and air tight joints or oinings. Within the bottom of the box, there is to be a channel or groove, d, made to extend entirely around it and near to and-parallel to each edge of the said bottom. From the top frame, b, of the box, a flange, e, is extended downward and entirely around the said top frame and down into the groove or trough, d, as seen in Fig. 3f Water, oil, or other suitable liquid is poured into the channel or trough, d, to such height as to cause it to flow above the bottom'or lower edge of the partition, e, when the frame, b, is at its greatestelevation. The upper part of the, top frame, b, is covered with a thin caul or sheet (f) of copper or other proper metal made of a thickness such as will enable it to have not only tenacity, but a slight degree of flexibility to yield a little under the pressure to which it is to be subjected. The material of which the top f is made should be such as will render it not only sufficiently flexible but capable of withstanding the heat of steam above the ordinary atmospheric pressure, and of resisting the pressure of the atmosphere when a condensation of steam takes place within the box. The veneer, during the process of cementing it to a board or surface is to rest directly on the top plate, f, such veneer being seen at o, while the board to whichit is tobe affixed is seen at l1.. Over the board is placed another board or platen i, which is held down or prevented from rising upward by means of cross timbers, D, D, D, each of which is connected wit-h one of the timbers, A, A, A, by two screw rods, E, E, that pass through them and have screw nuts, F, F, screwed on their upper parts as seen in the drawings. f

The box, B, is to be provided with an air pump, G, by which air may be forced into it and besides this'it is to be connected with a steam boiler or generator by means of a pipe, H, (having a stop cock 1,) and so that steam may be suffered to pass kfrom the boiler into the box. The object of employing steam is to heat the top plate, f, so as to warm itand liquefy or preserve in a fluid state, the glue or cement, whenvplaced on the top surface of a'sheet of veneering laid on the said plate. The object of the air pump is to force air into the box, B,and thereby elevate it so as to press the glued veneer closely up against the surface to which it is to be aflixed.

soY

In case the surface to be veneered is not i a plane surface, but acurved one,tlie Vtop plate, f, is to be formed to the counterpart f of such curve.

Ve are aware that a box or chamber, having a flexible vulcanized india rubber top has been employed for the purpose of pressing a veneer against asurfaceor article to be covered by it, such having been done by means ofy water forced into the box, such water, having been in a warm state forthe purpose of heating the flexible top and precause it to conform to such surface solong as may be necessary. This mechanismv andl method 'of operating have disadvantages,.-

which it has been lour purposek to overcome.

In the use of water, it can only be employed at al temperature of 212V Fahrenheit, whereas steam maybe employed at amuch greaterv temperature. Besides, when waterisused for t-he purpose of heating and pressure, it requires a long time for it tocool down sufficiently for the glue or cement to become properly hardened, ,whereas by theemploy-` ment of steam for heating and compressed air for pressure, the cooling of the plate and work may be effected in a very much shorter time comparatively speaking-for` the cool air when forced into the box not only at once or shortly condenses the steam, but, rapidly lowers the temperature of the top plate, f. The slight and peculiar flexibility and tenacity of the thinmetallic plate or caul a'llows it under the pressure exerted on it to have a different action on the veneer4 from what results from a diaphragm or top made of a substance having the elasticity of vulcanized caoutchouc. It is often foundin practice, that in order to press the entire surface of a veneer against a surface to which it is to be attached something more than a flexible and elastic top or caul is necessary, or in other words, that besides possessing flexibility, it must have tenacity, that is to say, it must be `too flexible, for if it is so, it will not set or pressclosely down what are termed curls in the veneer. In most veneers, these curls or `bulged places occasio-nally occur, and it is Yall important that they should be pressed so closely against the surface to which they are to be aiiixed, as to remove them from the veneer. To do this a caul havingthe .tenacity or rigidity of `a metallic plate is necessary, and this tenacity or rigidity `must be such as not` to yield to the projection of the caul, which it will allow the whole plate except where itis confined aroundiits edges, to spring upward a little under the pressure distributed over it.

Vfl1en the air is forced into thebox, B, its pressure has a tendency `to depress the water (of the trough, LL)1 on the. inner side of the partition or ianch, c, and raise it on the outer sides of it. In doing this itv forces the water against the inner VVSurface of Vthe membrane o-r iiexible sides, @jt-hereby wetting the same and keepingit so swelled in its joints or so covered by water asto obstruct the passage of air through it or its joints.

le would remark that the employment ofliexible sides, c, to the box, B, and-in conjunction with thin metallic cau-l, f, has a .pump is employed. i We do not claim, the method or process of vent it from operating correctly. When the flexible sides areused the whole caul is alflowed to move simultaneously upward, and

it will readily adapt itself tothe work.

In some cases wel may `dispense `with the use of the air forcing pump-and by conining theair within the box, B, and forcing the work and the top` of the box down toward thebottom of it, we can cause the, condensed air to exert an upward pressure on the, caul. This method of operation however we by no means consider of such practical value as that wherein an `air forclng setting or pressing a veneer down onla.surface by the employment of the4 pressure of water exerted against a flexible material or caul, having `the elasticity of vulcanized, caoutchouc, nor the application of heat to such caul through such water, but

We do claim as our improvement in fveneerincr surfaces- ,j j l j l. Tie employmentl in the, manner, set

forth of a thin metallic platevor caul notA only having the property of flexibility, but that of sufficient tenacity totake `outfthe curls in manner and under circumstances above stated.

2. And we also claim the combination of a flexible metallic caul with a box having flexible sidesm y. l

3. Ve also claim the: combination of the water trough, d, and flanclne, with the iiexible sides, c, and frames or posts,c, b, of the box, B, the same being made ,to operate substantially in. manner and for ther purpose as stated. i i

In testimony whereof, we have hereto setn our signatures Ythis twentieth day of July A. D. 1853. i

Jo/HN HILL, y H. H. BAnoUR,

ILucian A. BROWN, l 

